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IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL CELLS
The results of these studies have powerful implications for understanding
how all cells might be affected by fluid flows. But scientists still
know very little about the internal pathways by which dinoflagellates
detect their fluid environment. How do flows trigger physiological
responses such as bioluminescence in organisms, or changes in growth
rate, nutrient uptake, and cell structure? "Not all cells are
bioluminescent," explains von
Dassow, a third-year graduate student with
Latz. "But probably the trigger that controls that response
in dinoflagellates has general similarities to those controlling
other responses in other cells. A big lesson
of the last few decades of cell biology is that all cells use the
same basic building
blocks for a large number of those controlling other
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responses in
other cells. A big lesson of the last few decades of cell biology
is that all cells use the same basic building blocks for a large number
of processes. We just need to figure out which fundamental elements
are being used by the bioluminescent cells, in order to know how our
studies of dinoflagellate bioluminescence might be relevant to other
cells in flowing fluid."
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